China raises profile of its choice of Dalai Lama’s No. 2

March 2009 file photo of the Panchen Lama, Gyaltsen Norbu in Wuxi, China. — Reuters pic

BEIJING, March 1 — China has moved to raise the profile of the teenage Panchen Lama, traditionally the second-most powerful figure in Tibetan Buddhism who plays a role in the controversial selection of the next Dalai Lama.

The Panchen Lama, who turns 20 this year and is being groomed to win over restive Tibetans in China, was named a member of the national committee of an advisory body that will hold its annual meeting this week, the Xinhua news agency said today.

The Panchen Lama was selected by Beijing in 1995 over a boy chosen by the Dalai Lama who has never been seen again, creating a crisis of legitimacy for devout Tibetans.

China considers the ageing Dalai Lama, who fled into exile in 1959 after an abortive uprising against Chinese rule, a dangerous separatist. The Dalai Lama says he is merely seeking greater autonomy for Tibet.

China has been gradually exposing the Panchen Lama to more public roles in the hope he will achieve the loyalty of Tibetans and international respect commanded by the ageing Dalai Lama.

He was among 13 people named to the national committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference, a body of private entrepreneurs, religious and cultural figures designed to provide input to the ruling Communist Party.

The CPPCC’s annual meeting, which coincides with that of China’s rubber-stamp legislature, begins this week.

He is believed to be a reincarnation of the 10th Panchen Lama, who remained in China when the Dalai Lama left and was subsequently imprisoned for many years.

The Panchen Lama, a slight man with thick glasses, debuted with a speech in English at a Chinese-organised Buddhist congress in eastern China in 2009. — Reuters